Slashdot Mirror
Pirate Radio Station In Florida Jams Automotive Electronics
New submitter titanium93 writes "For months, dozens of people could not use their keyless entry systems to unlock or start their cars when parked in the vicinity of the eight-story Regents bank building in Hollywood, FL. Once the cars were towed to the dealership for repair, the problem went away. The problem resolved itself when police found equipment on the bank's roof that was broadcasting a bootleg radio station. A detective and an FCC agent found the equipment hidden underneath an air conditioning chiller. The man who set up the station has not been found, but he faces felony charges and fines of at least $10,000 if he is caught. The radio station was broadcasting Caribbean music around the clock on 104.7 FM."
From the article:
Most drivers were forced to read their owner's manual to learn how to access their manual key, Camara said.
Keyless entry systems might be handy (although yet another security risk), but having a keyless system with no key backup is insane. Do these people also get their car towed when the keyless entry battery dies? Or if the car battery dies? I would never accept a system that didn't have some form of alternate entry and starting.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
I don't understand. 104.7 FM is a part of the spectrum allocated for radio broadcast. Why was that interfering with keyless entry systems? Is this just an issue of too much power?
I get you not supposed to run an illegal radio, but why was the signal causing problems for cars? Was it too strong or was there an underlying signal being sent out?
For me, the funny part, "people had to get their manuals out how to manually open their car doors"
So people were actually stranded because they couldn't get into their cars because their keyless fobs wouldn't work? The driver's door should at least have a keyed lock.
The article said people actually had their cars towed to the dealership because they couldn't unlock them, so I'm disinclined to this this is operator error, but a really bad design by asshat engineers. At least the article gives us a clue as to which car companies to avoid in the future: "Cars made by Ford, Lexus, Toyota, BMW and Mercedes were reportedly affected."
I'd bet it was corroded feedline or antenna connection not protected against the salt air. If it formed a diode, it would set up a strong 3rd harmonic right next to the 315 Mhz band used by keyless remotes according to Wikipedia. Without that, they may have been able to stay on the air much longer.
I love how Wikipedia makes it easy to give a lot more context for these type of explanations. 8)
" "We were blaming it on the police. The police were blaming it on the courthouse. We didn't know what was going on.""
Maybe you should stop blaming people for things when you don't know what's going on?
""Something mystical was going on,""
And there it is. people ascribe something as mystical and then they stop using their brain. This is why SCAMs* are dangerous. "It's energy and mysterious? well then I guess we can't find a real answer."
This thing happens, and it's always in the same area. Clearly Aliens.
"Most drivers were forced to read their owner's manual to learn how to access their manual key, Camara said."
Sigh.
*Supplements and Complementary and Alternative Medicines
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Drive a shitty car with the doors unlocked and the key in the ignition. Worked for me for over a decade now!
104.7 FM brings you the best jams~
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
This happened in NYC this summer but it was faulty wiring rather than a pirate radio station.
Not only was he broadcasting pirate radio but he did it in the commerical frequency range, more likely to interfere with a licensed operator (who wants that ad money) and get the FCC called to investigate.
...
We're jammin', we're jammin', we're jammin', we're jammin';
Hope you like jammin', too.
Credits to Bob Marley
Anyone else finding this amusing?
What a badass.
'"At first I thought it was me," said Jacobson, who started to say a little prayer every time she tried to use her electronic key.'
God: Messing with people's vehicles since 4000BC.
We be jammin'
It's right there in the lyrics!
Sherlock Holmes, is that you?
Yep, 3rd harmonic, probably from an unfiltered Class C power amp -- and it will desense those silly little receivers if it doesn't block them completely. The more modern ones have some front-end filtering, but not a lot.
A lot of automotive stuff in that frequency range -- keyless entry, TPM (tire pressure monitoring), and garage door openers.
I'm surprised nobody has gone after the protocols to see how many low tire pressure warnings they can set off at once...
Upside though is that cars start without a battery as well :)
My work is right by the casino up here in cold Canada... This is oh so tempting to do now. Just for a laugh. I'm a horrible person >_
On TV, the pirate radio stations are always broadcast from little ships sitting 12 miles offshore - so this guy was obviously doing it wrong.
The only other option is to use an old motor home as your base of operations... if you're 20 minutes into the future, anyway.
#DeleteChrome
How dare the Evil Government abridge my Rights to Disable said other Persons keyless entry systems!
This was Obviously not the Intent of the Founders when they Wrote the Constitution!
WOLVERINES!
Hopelessly pedantic since 1963.
Relatively few people will have access to building roof. Radio station would need constant maintenance, and (assuming it is running autonomously) a way to change music selection (although perhaps they were feeding data wirelessly?).
Just check janitors and maintenance personnel, and there you'll have it.
Also, it's Regions bank, not that anyone cares.
Hard Harry. Pump up the volume people!!!
At least with the jamming effect in place, nobody would walk by with a laptop and steal your car by hacking the doors and keyless ignition. So that's a plus.
Seriously, all this wireless proximity bullshit it ridiculous. It's jammable, hackable, and breaks often. What exactly is so bad about laser side-cut keys, huh?
Read it yourself, and his libel before it http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2261720&cid=36545928 since he tried hiding it by a downmod last time it was posted here http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3339513&cid=42399343 & here also http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3344205&cid=42411119 erroneus = Jorge Bastida.
Why not:
The man or woman who set up the station has not been found, but they faces felony charges and fines of at least $10,000 if they are caught.
Or:
The person who set up the station has not been found, but faces felony charges and fines of at least $10,000 if caught.
Or:
The being or person (assumed human) who set up the station has not been found, but faces felony charges and fines of at least $10,000 if caught.
I want responsible parties arrested.
it seems to me that carib and hispanic pirate radio operators do 2 things. fail to build/install a low pass harmonics filter, and crank the audio to the point of their radio station sounding like garbage. 433 mhz is where keyless/wireless devices like this operate. thats slightly more than 4 octaves away form 104.7 mhz.
"Oh... to eat pizza again..." by erroneus (253617) on Saturday December 22, @05:20PM (#42371769) from http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3335159&cid=42371769 get some slimfast you disgusting lardass.
we know you're a troll fatboy hence your downmod here http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3339513&cid=42390715
"Oh... to eat pizza again..." by erroneus (253617) on Saturday December 22, @05:20PM (#42371769) from http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3335159&cid=42371769 since that disgusting fatbody pig's an obese swine with no dick!
Ya disgusting drooling hog. Want Pizza? No. You can't have it.
3rd order harmonic of 104.7 is 1MHz from the main center frequency or automotive remotes. That's why the remotes weren't working. Ha ha ha ha ha!
erroneus did you run from this to lose weight? http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3339513&cid=42393023
Amusing watching you evade a challenge, big talker http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3339513&cid=42393023
The man who set up the station has not been found, but he faces felony charges and fines of at least $10,000 if he is caught
How presumptuous to assume its a man!
Solution: don't use radio to start cars. Subject to jamming, hacking, and multiple failure points.
Car engineering is ass backwards. We should be simplifying, not growing the complexity. Elegance is better than more tech. Minimal number of components to do a task.
Mechanical mechanisms for opening windows and doors, for instance. The Aptera, before the auto exec took over and ruined it, went one step farther and didn't let the windows open at all - it was a door. Zero failure.
Engines should be electric, have as few moving parts as possible, and efficiency should be much better than the 17% or so gas engines provide. And so on and on.
Cheaper, too!
Unless the cars don't have that little thingy under the door handle, they could just use the key to open it. He was broadcasting on 104.7mhz, lets say his sidebands were within tolerance... Anyone know what frequency those key FOBS use? 2.4ghz? That's some harmonic to get into those to screw them up....
As bad as this? Don't think so. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3345911&cid=42414637
Since being publicly obese like you is embarassing. Erroneus/john b wilcox: When you eat, is your dish a wheelbarrow, your fork a pitchfork, and spoon a shovel or what http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3345911&cid=42414637 ? Hahahaha. No wonder you said this "Oh... to eat pizza again..." by erroneus (253617) on Saturday December 22, @05:20PM (#42371769) from http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3335159&cid=42371769 you disgustingly fat hog.
now that's tempting, operate an FM station with that legal cost-of-doing-business of $1600/month. should be able to recoup that with modest ad revenue.....
Why the hell does it take the FCC "months" to locate and shut down an illegal continuous broadcast?
I find it hard to believe that someone was running a pirate radio station in violation of FCC laws. As I recall, one can legally get a low-power transmitter of a maximum wattage and maximum of a 6 foot antenna, and that will easily broadcast a few miles, especially if at a good height. In all likelihood, something broke or became corroded, but it's hard to see why they'd just outright fine someone so much money for an honest mistake. Sadly, the story doesn't elaborate on anything remotely technical.
In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
If you set off a TPMS warning, traction and stability control disengage on most vehicles. Combined with dangerous weather and/or people who are used to these systems, all manner of problems can be imagined.
The TPMS systems are very basic and there is information floating around on how to disrupt them..
Interesting times.
..don't panic
I don't believe a piece of crap FM transmitter could make enough noise or QRM to disable a real car alarm system. I suspect something else going on here.
And NOT unrelated:
I used to work aboard a naval air station and every GREAT once-in-a-while one of the EW aircraft would return to base and the EW officer would forget to disable something or other... now that WOULD intefere with auto electronics (USUALLY temporarily) and set off a few hundred car alarms all over the base. Pretty hilarious for the most part, imagining some JG getting a serious ass-chewing (or worse.)
To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
fucking beautiful.
Now how are my buddies and I going to tantalize our ear drums with the soft sounds of illegal Caribbean music!? Sure, we could load up an iPod or our smartphones with beats, but we won't be able to get as much variety. Each song was carefully hand-picked by Caribou Carl! It felt like I was on an island mon with that warm sun and green/blue sea spraying on my face! Mon!
The G
Here's a similar situation in Yonkers, NY that happened last year that I remember reading about... http://yonkers.dailyvoice.com/news/mystery-yonkers-failing-keyless-remotes-solved